System for interconnecting standard telephony communications equipment to internet protocol networks

ABSTRACT

A system for linking standard telephony communications with internet protocols. Standard telephony equipment, such as a telephone, can communicate using the internet without special adapters or the like. A network of Internet servers may be connected to the Internet and telephony communications system, enabling telephony communications equipment access to the Internet.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This Application is related to, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 with respect to, prior Provisional Application No. 60/012,896 filedMar. 6, 1996 and prior Provisional Application No. 60/013,240 filed Mar.11, 1996, the contents of each of those provisional applications beinghereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

This application further claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S.application Ser. Nos. 10/279,645 filed Oct. 24, 2002, and 08/812,745filed Mar. 6, 1997, the contents of each of which being hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Reservation of Copyright

The disclosure of this patent document contains material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Officepatent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightswhatsoever.

2. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a system for linking standard telephonycommunications using internet protocols.

DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Telephony communications systems connect various types of telephonecommunications equipment, including, e.g., digital and analogtelephones, facsimile (sending and/or receiving) machines, and dataand/or facsimile modems.

Such telephony communications systems may comprise a network of varyingsystems interconnected with various types of transmission links. Suchinterconnected systems may include, e.g., centrex systems, privatebranch exchange (PBX) systems, and key telephone systems.

Transmission links provide links across various physical distances,serving as, e.g., long-distance lines, local exchange carrier lines,foreign exchange lines, 800 WATS lines, and/or tie-lines. The physicalconnection may be made with the use of a cable, e.g., a twisted copperpair, fiber-optic cabling, two-wire open lines, coaxial cable, or it maybe wireless, e.g., using cellular technologies, satellite transmissionsystems, terrestrial microwave links, radio links. One or morecombinations of existing or future transmission technologies may beused, such as T1, CEPT PCM-30, SONET, ISDN, frame relay, andasynchronous transfer mode.

Telephony communications systems utilize switching networks to connectone telephony device (telephone, fax, modem, etc.) to another, inaccordance with a telephone number (the telephony destination address)specified by one of the telephony devices to be connected. A telephonenumber over a public switch telephone network (PSTN) will typicallycomprise a three-digit area code (number plan area (NPA)), followed by athree-digit exchange code (sometimes referred to as NNX or NXX), andthen a four digit code used to identify the specific telephone line ofthe destination telephony device.

An example of a telephony communications system is a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN). Access to the PSTN is provided using thetelephony communications equipment, as well as other equipment such ashardwiring which is extended between the telephony communicationsequipment and a system with which it is interfaced. For instance,hardwiring may extend from the telephony communications equipment to awall outlet, from the wall outlet to the building exterior, and from thebuilding exterior to the telephony communications system. Alternatively,telephony communications equipment may access the telephonycommunications systems using a transmitter (e.g., cellular) or throughother known means. In either case, a considerable amount of hardware ispresently in place to provide communication between the telephonycommunications system (e.g., PSTN) and telephony communicationsequipment (e.g., telephone).

Conventionally, communications over telephony communications systems areperformed based on a connection-oriented network model. In theconnection-oriented network model, a pathway is formed between a sourcenode and a destination node of the telephony communications systembefore communication begins, creating what is commonly referred to as avirtual circuit therebetween. The pathway is commonly established usinga handshaking procedure in which the source node requests communicationby informing the network of the destination node, the network thennotifies the destination node of the request, whereupon the destinationnode accepts or refuses a request for communication. If the destinationnode accepts the request for communication, the source node, thedestination node and all resources of the telephony communicationssystem that are used to define the pathway therebetween are reserved forthe communication.

Conventional PSTN-type telephony communications systems connecttelephones as follows. The caller (source) requests a communication bydialing (informing) the PSTN of a telephone number (destination). Afterthe telephone number has been dialed, the PSTN establishes a path,reserves whatever resources are necessary to maintain that path,contacts the destination by ringing its phone, and conducts thecommunication after the request is accepted. As such, the resources ofthe PSTN remain reserved from the time of inception of a communicationto its completion.

Under the present regulatory scheme, communications over telephonycommunications systems are classified among three categories: intraLATA(“Local Access Transport Area”), interLATA and international. IntraLATAcommunication is performed when the source and destination nodes areboth located in a single calling area; interLATA communication isperformed when the source and destination nodes are located in differentcalling areas within a single country, and international communicationis performed when the source and destination nodes are located incalling areas of different countries. Typically, the three categoriesrank as listed above in order of expense with intraLATA communicationsgenerally being provided at the lowest cost.

In view of the above, there is a need for a system that is capable ofmaximizing the communications of presently available resources,including resources not presently used by conventional telephonysystems. There is also a need for a system that is capable of reducingcosts associated with conventional telephony communications systems.

It is costly to reconfigure a given traditional telephony communicationssystem, such as a centrex system, a PBX system, or a key telephonesystem. As just one example, the creation and testing of a new telephonecircuit will be quite labor-intensive, requiring such actions aslocating the switch, finding a suitable and available wiring connectionto establish the telephone circuit, making many cross-connectionsbetween and/or splicing of cables to route the wiring to the desired enddestination, and performing different testing and verificationprocedures to ensure that a proper connection is made. If at anycritical point in the path of a circuit, the available lines reach theirfull capacity, new lines will need to be installed to accommodate newtelephony circuits, or the circuit must be diverted in a less thanoptimal manner to utilize existing cable facilities.

Much effort has been spent recently to integrate computer technologieshaving much more flexibility with hard-wired/switched telephony systems,to thus combine the strengths of each of these areas. Computer telephonyintegration (CTI) standards have been developed for communicationsbetween computer and telephony platforms, including, e.g., computersupported telephony applications (CSTA) and switch-computer applicationsinterface (SCAI), Versit, and the INTEL-proposed high-speed serialinterface.

There is a need to further reduce limitations and configuration costsassociated with hard-wired/switched telephony systems. There is also aneed for systems facilitating the efficient utilization of computersystems and networks for telephony applications, for local intra-office,local extra-office, long distance and/or international voice, fax, anddata communications.

5. Definition of Terms

The following term definitions are provided to assist in conveying anunderstanding of the various exemplary embodiments and featuresdisclosed herein.

Connectionless-style network layer protocol:

A connectionless-style network layer protocol is defined in Chapters 5and 7 of Radia Perlman's book entitled “Interconnections: Bridges andRouters,” Addison-Wesley (1992), pages 127-148 and 165-191. The contentof the Chapters 5 and 7 of this book is hereby expressly incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Examples of connectionless-stylenetwork layer protocols include, e.g., the CLNP and IP protocols.

Internet:

An internetwork comprising large computer networks interconnected overhigh-speed data links such as ISDN, T1, T2, FDDI, SONET, SMDS, OT1, etc.As described in Newton's Telecom Dictionary, the Internet accomodates anew computer that connects to the Internet by adopting the newconnection as part of the Internet and beginning to route Internettraffic over the new connection and through the new computer. TheInternet uses a connectionless-style network layer protocol.

Telephony Communications Equipment:

A device compatible with a telephony communications system. An exampleof such a device is one that initiates a connection by specifying, amongother things, a telephony definition address, and completes a callconnection when its telephony destination address has been specified byanother device. Examples of telephony communications equipment includeanalog and digital telephones, cellular telephones, facsimile machines,and dial-out data and/or facsimile modems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is provided to improve upon conventionalcommunications systems by maximizing the efficiency usage ofcommunications resources, thereby reducing costs, e.g., related toinfrastructure, enhancements and usage. In order to achieve this end,one or more aspects of the present invention may be followed in order tobring about one or more specific objects or advantages, such as thosenoted below.

One object of the present invention is to better facilitatecommunications over the Internet, using standard telephonycommunications equipment.

Another object of the present invention is to efficiently use existingtelephony resources to communicate by taking advantage of hardwarepresently in place within the existing telephony communicationsinfrastructure, as well as to provide more versatile new communicationstechnologies.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system forbest managing communication costs by, for instance, identifying and/orutilizing alternative lower cost communication pathways between a sourceand a destination.

To achieve these and other objects, the present invention may bedirected to a method or system, or one or more parts thereof, formanaging communications between a source and a destination to allowpayload data to be passed over the Internet using conventional telephonycommunications equipment such as a telephone and conventional telephonycommunications systems such as the public switch telephone network(PSTN). A network of Internet servers may be connected to the Internetand to telephony communication systems. As such, telephony communicationequipment can access the Internet through Internet servers of thenetwork. Payload data sent by telephony communication equipment to alocal Internet server is sent via the Internet to a different Internetserver of the network located proximate to the destination specified inthe communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention are further described in the detailed description whichfollows, with reference to the drawings by way of non-limiting exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, wherein like reference numeralsrepresent similar parts of the present invention throughout the severalviews and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of thegeneral hardware configuration used to implement an Internet-integratedcommunications system of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an integratedtelephony system of the present invention;

FIG. 2B shows a LAN-based exchange implemented as a client/serverarchitecture;

FIG. 2C illustrates a high-level flow chart of some steps forming partof the general operation of a telephony client;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart demonstrating an example of the process performedby an Internet server in response to a communication from telephonycommunications equipment;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate example processes implemented by an Internetserver that receives a communication; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of how communicationis initiated at the source telephony communications equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the generalhardware configuration used to implement this invention. Items 10 and 60of FIG. 1 represent telephony communications equipment at two nodeswhich are respectfully designated the source and destination for thepurposes of this application. However, any node having telephonycommunications equipment capable of generating output may be deemed asource, any node having telephony communication equipment capable ofreceiving an input may be deemed a destination, and any node havingtelephony communication equipment capable of generating output andreceiving input may be deemed both a source and a destination.

The telephony communications equipment of source 10 may include devicescompatible with a telephony communications system that initiates a callconnection by specifying among other things, a telephony destinationaddress. The telephony communications equipment of destination 60includes devices compatible with a telephony communications system thatreceives a call connection when their telephony destination address hasbeen specified by another device. Examples of telephony communicationsequipment include analog and digital telephones, cellular telephones,facsimile machines, and dial-out data and/or fax modems.

FIG. 1 also shows Internet servers 41 and 42 which are included in anetwork of Internet servers, each of which provides access to Internet50. Internet server 41 corresponds to source 10 and Internet server 42corresponds to destination 62. Internet server 41 and 42, and theirfunction, will be described in greater detail later in the application.The public switch telephone network (PSTN) is used to provide forcommunications between the telephony communications equipment at source10 and Internet server 41. Similarly, PSTNs 22 and 23 are used toprovide for communication between the telephony communications equipment60 and each of Internet servers 41 and 42. As shown in FIG. 1, PSTNs21-23 serve as telephony communications systems providing telephonycommunications equipment of various kinds access to other telephonycommunications equipment.

In addition, communication may be established via the internet protocolnetwork (e.g., a local area network or the Internet) at 31 betweentelephony communications equipment at source 10 and Internet server 41,communication may be established via an internet protocol network at 32between the telephony communications equipment 60 and Internet server42.

By virtue of PSTNs 21-23 and Internet routes 31-32, the telephonycommunications equipment at source 10 and destination 60 are able tocommunicate with at least their respective Internet servers. Oncecommunication is established between telephony communications equipmentat source 10 or destination 60 and the corresponding Internet server,communication between the equipment at source 10 and destination 60 maybe established over the Internet under the control of their respectiveInternet servers. For instance, as shown in FIG. 1, communicationsreceived by an Internet server from source 10 are directed towarddestination 60 over Internet 50. As will be described later, Internetserver 41 generally receives only the address of destination 60 alongwith communications from source 10. Therefore, a mapping such as alook-up table must be used to determine the address of Internet server42 corresponding to destination 60 before communication over Internet 50may be enabled.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, an alternative path exists forcommunications being sent between source 10 and destination 60. Namely,communications between source 10 and destination 60 may be sent throughPSTN 23, bypassing Internet 50 and Internet server 42.

When transmitted over Internet 50, communications are received atInternet server 42 which is designated by Internet server 41 based ondestination information provided in the communication. The communicationthen proceeds through either PSTN 22 or through an Internet protocolnetwork at 32 to destination 60. In contrast, when transmitted over PSTN23, communications are made directly from Internet server 41 to thetelephony communications equipment at destination 60. Communications aredirected over PSTN 23 by Internet server 41 when such a pathway presentsthe least costly use of communication resources. For example, as will bedescribed in more detail hereinafter, the Internet server may determinethat the most efficient or least costly communication can be performedusing a PSTN when no Internet server is local to the destination.

An example of the functions performed by an Internet server 41 is madeapparent from FIGS. 3-5 which describe an exemplary process undertakenby the Internet server in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention, as applied in particular to communication by facsimile from afacsimile machine. The exemplary process described with respect to FIGS.3-5 is also applicable to communications of other types of data, such asvoice data which is further described later.

FIG. 3 describes the process performed by the Internet server when acommunication is received from telephony communication equipment overtelephony communication systems. Once the incoming communication isdetected at the Internet server (step 301), the source of that incomingcommunication is determined in step 302 based on identifying informationprovided in that communication. For instance, the incoming communicationmay include an automatic number identification (ANI) code which may becompared to a database of codes corresponding to clients. The ANI codemay correspond to the telephone number or other identifying codecorresponding to the telephony communication equipment initiating thecommunication. At step 303, the Internet server determines whether thesource of the communication is a client of the network system ofInternet servers. At step 303, if the source of the communication is nota client of the network system, the process proceeds to step 304.

At step 304, the Internet server determines whether the source of thecommunication has reached a limit for free trial communications over thenetwork. A selected number of free trial communications may be permittedon the network system by the present invention to telephonycommunication equipment at sources that are not clients of the networkInternet servers. If the free trial limit is reached, the processproceeds to step 306 where a sales message may be sent to the telephonycommunication equipment initiating the communication, after which timethe process proceeds to step 307 where the telephony communicationsystem connection between the telephony communication equipment at thesource and the Internet server is terminated. However, if at step 304,it is determined that the free trial limit has not been reached, theprocess proceeds to step 305 where the number of free trialscorresponding to the telephony communication equipment initiating thecommunication is updated in storage. The process then proceeds from step305 to step 308.

If at step 303, it is determined that the incoming communication wasinitiated by a client, the process proceeds to step 308. At step 308,the Internet server waits for further communication from the client,assuming that data is not provided in the initial communication. Whilewaiting, the Internet server may generate a signal such as a dial toneand send that signal to the telephony communication equipment at thesource so as to prompt further communication. Other handshaking may alsobe provided as necessary to elicit further communication from thetelephony communication equipment at the source. The process thenproceeds to step 309, where the Internet server determines whether thecommunication is meaningful. For instance, when communicating with aclient having telephony communication equipment in the form of afacsimile machine, step 309 determines whether the communication is afacsimile. If the communication is not determined to be meaningful(e.g., the data format being transmitted is not recognized), theconnection between the telephony communication equipment at the sourceand the Internet server is terminated at step 307. However, if thecommunication is determined to be meaningful in step 309, the processproceeds to steps 310 and 311.

In steps 310 and 311, routing information is captured and data iscollected from within the communication. The collected data isconverted, if necessary, to a form suitable for communication over thenetwork (e.g., the Internet) based on established protocols such as theInternet protocol (IP). The routing information and converted data maythen be stored as a precautionary measure in case there is a problemwith transmission of the data to a destination. At step 310, theInternet server captures a telephony destination code (e.g., destinationfacsimile telephone number) provided by the telephony communicationsequipment that originated the communication. In addition, the Internetserver receives the data (e.g., facsimile transmission data) from withinthe communication and converts the data received to an appropriate form(the Internet protocol (IP)) for sending over the computer network (theInternet). The process then proceeds to step 311 where the Internetserver stores information such as the telephony destination code andconverted data as a precautionary matter.

After steps 310 and 311, the process proceeds to step 312, where thetelephony destination code specified in the communication is used todetermine the destination Internet server. A mapping such as a look-uptable or other suitable mapping may be used to relate the telephonydestination code to a corresponding destination Internet server. Thedestination Internet server for telephony destination codes not includedin a look-up table (or other suitable mapping mechanism) may bedetermined based on, e.g., area code when the telephony destination codeis a telephone number. For instance, with respect to a facsimilecommunication, the Internet server uses a look-up table in step 312 toidentify a destination Internet server based on the destinationtelephone number captured from within the communication in step 310.

In steps 313-315, the Internet server determines the most efficientmethod of communication with the telephony equipment at the destination.Specifically, step 313 determines whether any Internet server on thenetwork is local to the destination, e.g., based on whether thedestination Internet server identified in step 312 is local to thedestination. If step 313 determines that the destination Internet serveris local to the destination, the destination Internet server isdesignated for communication in step 318 before proceeding to step 319.

However, if step 313 determines that no Internet server is local to thedestination, the assistance of some other available communication systemwill be needed to communicate with the destination. Anothercommunication system may be any of plural systems including, forexample, a telephony communications system (e.g., the PSTN) or even aLAN or WAN emulated telephone communications system. The Internet serverevaluates the other available communications systems available, bydetermining in steps 314-315 the least costly communication using thoseother available communications systems. For instance, in step 314, theInternet server evaluates communications costs associated with the otheravailable communications systems. Based on the evaluation performed instep 314, an Internet server is selected to communicate with the otheravailable communications systems in steps 315-317. For instance, thecosts of communicating with the destination using one of at least twoInternet servers in combination with the other available communicationssystems are compared in step 315, the least costly Internet server beingdesignated for communication in steps 316 and 317.

A more detailed example of steps 314-317 follows, assuming forillustration purposes that a telephony communications system, e.g., thePSTN, is the other communications system used to facilitatecommunications to the destination. In such a situation, thecommunications costs may be evaluated in step 314 by comparing the costsof intraLATA communications over the PSTN to interLATA communicationsover the PSTN. Long distance rates provide one possible criteria forcomparing intraLATA and interLATA costs. If, in step 315, it isdetermined that the costs of interLATA communication are less than thecosts of intraLATA communication, an Internet server outside the LATA ofthe destination is designated for communications in step 316 beforeproceeding to step 319. In contrast, if it is determined in step 315that the costs of intraLATA communications are less than interLATAcommunications, an Internet server inside the LATA of the destination isdesignated for communication in step 317 before proceeding to step 319.

In step 319, routing data and payload data from the communication arestored in step 311 are communicated with the Internet server designatedin the appropriate one of steps 316-318 for processing of data.

It should be noted that, in some situations, no communication isperformed between Internet servers of the network. For instance, thissituation may arise if no Internet servers are local to the destination,and the Internet server receiving communications from the source isdetermined to provide the least costly communication to the destinationwhen combined with the other available communications systems.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an example of processes implemented by anInternet server that receives a communication over the Internet. At step402, the Internet server detects an incoming communication. The incomingcommunication may have originated from telephony communicationsequipment, e.g., a computer connected to the Internet through anInternet Service Provider. Such a communication likely includesinformation sent through a modem. Alternatively, the communication mayhave been passed from a different Internet server. For instance, theencircled 4A corresponds to the output from the Internet server of FIG.3 at step 319 in FIG. 3. Such a communication may include routing dataand payload data as indicated, e.g., in step 319 of FIG. 3.

Once a communication is detected in step 402, the Internet serverdetermines the source of the communication in step 403 by, e.g.,evaluating information sent with the communication. For instance, theInternet server can determine whether an Internet address correspondingto the message source is the same as the Internet address correspondingto any of the clients or Internet servers in a database or look-uptable.

If the source of the communication is determined to be a client in step404, standard Internet protocol handshaking procedures are followed instep 405 to obtain the communication. Once the communication isreceived, it is generally handled in step's 406-409 and 411 in a mannersimilar to steps 307 and 309-311 of FIG. 3. For example, thecommunication is broken down into router data and payload data,converted into data appropriate for communication on the network, andstored for precautionary reasons. However, the conversion of step 408differs from that performed in step 310 which converts data from aprotocol used for communication over a telephony communications systemfrom which it is received, while step 408 converts data from a protocolused for communications over a network system such as the Internet. Bothconversion processes however conclude by proceeding to steps 312-319 forcommunications with other Internet servers.

If the communication is determined not to have been initiated at a validsource in steps 404 and 410, the process proceeds to step 411 where theconnection is terminated. For instance, if the communication isdetermined not to have been initiated by a client in step 404, and thecommunication is determined not to have been initiated by an Internetserver in the network in step 410, it is presumed that the communicationwas initiated by an impermissible source. For that reason, theconnection is terminated in step 411.

Alternatively, if the communication is determined at step 410 to havebeen initiated by an Internet server in the network, the processproceeds to determine the type of communication received, e.g., asdemonstrated by steps 413 and 419. For instance, the Internet serverdetermines whether the communication is a fax in step 413, and whetherthe communication is a status message in step 419. Determinations likethese have conventionally enabled the evaluation of specific status bitsin the communication protocol, or the characteristics of the data withinthe communication itself.

More specifically, in step 413 of the illustrated embodiment, theInternet server determines whether the data sent within thecommunication represents a facsimile. If it is determined in step 413that the communication received represents a facsimile, the processproceeds to steps 414-417 which break down the communication into routerdata and payload data, store this data, compare available resources forcommunicating, and determine communication resources to be utilized.Specifically, e.g., in step 414, the Internet server captures atelephony source code, telephony destination code, payload data andidentification data for the Internet server from which the communicationarrived. The Internet server then stores, in step 415, the informationcaptured in step 414. The telephony server compares available resourcesfor communicating and determines which of the available communicationresources to be utilized in step 416. The resources of step 416 are thenused to communicate the payload data in step 417.

The Internet server evaluates communication success in step 418. If thecommunication is deemed successful, step 418 forwards the process tostep 501 of FIG. 5 where a status message is updated to reflect thesuccessful status. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 502 of FIG.5 where the updated status message is sent to the origin Internetserver.

However, if the communication is not deemed successful in step 418,process proceeds to steps 503 and 504 of FIG. 5 where the communicationis repeated a predetermined number of times (e.g., 3). If thecommunication is successful after the predetermined number of attempts,the process proceeds to steps 501 and 502 for the processing describedabove. If the communication is not successful after the predeterminednumber of attempts, the process proceeds to step 505 where a statusmessage is updated to reflect failure status. Thereafter, the processproceeds to step 502 where the updated status message is sent to theorigin Internet server.

If step 413 determines that the communication does not represent afacsimile, the process proceeds to step 419 where the Internet serverdetermines whether the message is a Status Message like, e.g., thosesent in step 502 of FIG. 5. If the communication is deemed a StatusMessage, the Internet server performs the functions specified in steps421-425. Specifically, the Internet server captures, in step 421,routing information and status data from the communication, and storesthe same in step 422. For example, the Internet server capturestelephony source code, telephony destination code and a status messagefrom the communication, and stores the same in a client database. TheInternet then proceeds to steps 423-425 to notify the client of thestatus message if client notification is set via, e.g., a flag in thedatabase.

However, if the Communication is deemed to be other than a StatusMessage, the Internet server performs functions according to a differentmanagement process, as indicated in step 420. Such processing may bewith respect to, e.g., communications including voice data which willlater be described in more detail.

As an alternative to sending Status Messages in step 502 to indicate afailure in communication, an optional error processing may be conductedin accordance with steps 506-509 of FIG. 5. Specifically, as shown instep 506, the Internet server may contact the destination with voiceinstructions, e.g., to help alleviate potential problems giving rise tothe failure. For instance, the voice instructions might direct the userto turn on a piece of telephony communications equipment. Thealternative error process then proceeds to step 507 which detectswhether the contact is ready for correction now that the voiceinstructions are sent. If the contact is not ready for correction instep 507, instructions are left for a call-back in step 508. However, ifthe contact is ready for correction in step 507, a new destinationnumber is accepted in step 509 and the process proceeds to step 503where the new destination number is used to again attempt communication.

Voice Data Transmission

As mentioned previously, the process described via the specificembodiment of FIGS. 3-5 accommodates voice data being communicatedbetween source 10 and destination 60. For instance, when voice datagenerated by telephony communications equipment is communicated over thetelephony communications system and received by an Internet server, theserver may operate essentially as shown in FIG. 3, in which case thehandshaking of step 308 may not be needed.

Similarly, when an Internet server receives communications from theInternet containing voice data, the Internet server may operate as shownin FIG. 4. Specifically, communications containing voice data arehandled by applying the process shown in steps 414-417 with respect tocommunications containing facsimile data. As with the facsimilecommunications, source identifying information (e.g. telephony sourcecodes), destination identifying information (e.g., telephony destinationcodes), identifying information for the Internet server corresponding tothe source, and the data itself are captured in step 414 and stored instep 415. Also similar, is the procedure for communicating the data tothe destination specified, where the method of communication isdetermined in step 416 based on the factors previously espoused, wherethe communication is attempted using the determined method in step 417,and where status updating and post-communication activity is handled insteps 418 and 501-509.

The illustrated system therefore provides for communications of voicedata over the Internet using existing, unmodified telephonycommunications equipment connected to telephony communications systems.Because communications of voice data over the connectionless networkssuch as the Internet are presently enabled using protocols such as RTP(real-time transport protocol), the system also provides for real-timevoice data communications between a source and destination over theInternet using existing telephony communications systems (e.g., PSTN)and equipment (e.g., analog and digital telephones). As such, thepresent invention provides real-time voice data communication over theInternet without requiring special communications hardware (e.g.,computer adapters) at the source or destination, and without requiringspecial communications equipment (e.g., ISDN communication lines) toreplace existing telephony communications systems (e.g., the PSTN)presently connected to the telephony communications equipment at thesource and destination.

Vantage Point at Source

From the vantage point of an initiator at source 10, the communicationfunctions performed by the present invention are transparent, or nearlytransparent. That is, when compared to conventional communications overthe PSTN, the only difference noticed by an initiating user source 10 isthat an Internet server must be accessed before entering destinationidentifying information (e.g., telephone number or E-mail address ofdestination) and sending information (e.g., voice or data).

Specifically, when wishing to communicate via telephone systeminterfacing equipment over the PSTN, an initiator at source 10 mustaccess an Internet server by submitting identifying informationcorresponding to that Internet server. Examples of conventionally usedidentifying information include a telephone number, Internet address, orsome recognized code corresponding to either (e.g., batch codeprocessing or the like).

Access to the Internet server may occur automatically upon theoccurrence of certain events (e.g., the telephony communicationsequipment goes “off-hook”), so that the connection to the Internetserver is virtually transparent to source 10. By way of example, thismay be implemented by providing an interface (hardware and/or software)for detecting the occurrence of such a triggering event andautomatically establishing a direct tie to the Internet server. AINservices may also be utilized to achieve this function.

Once the initiator, at source 10, has established access to the Internetserver, for example through an Internet Service Provider (ISP),communication may be conducted in the ordinary manner, whereby aninitiator at source 10 submits a telephony destination code followed bypayload data. Conventional methods for submitting a telephonydestination code include, for example, numeric entry and voicerecognition systems. The Internet server may or may not prompt input ofthe telephony destination code from the initiator using conventionalmeans (e.g., audio or visual indicator or request) once access has beenestablished.

FIG. 6 provides a brief example of how in operation of the illustratedsystem communication may be initiated by an initiator at source 10 usingthe present invention. At step 601, the initiator accesses the Internetserver by entering identifying information manually. In step 602, theinitiator at source 10 waits for an indication from the Internet serverof successful access (e.g., an auditory tone). Although such anindication may or may not be provided by all Internet servers, such anindication may be useful in achieving transparent communications,particularly when used in combination with a process for automatingidentification of and access to the Internet server such as theprocesses described above.

More specifically, for purposes of this example, assume that thetelephony communications equipment being used at the source is astandard analog telephone. When the Internet server is accessedautomatically and an auditory tone is provided by the Internet server inresponse to access, a person wishing to initiate communications usingthe telephone hears the tone generated by the Internet server in placeof the dial tone. In response to that dial tone, the initiator simplyinputs the destination telephone number (i.e., the destinationidentifying information) and proceeds with the communication, asdescribed in steps 603 and 604. As such, the performance ofcommunication functions by the present invention remain transparent tothe initiator of a communication.

Vantage Point at Destination

From the vantage point of destination 60, the communication functionsperformed by the present invention are completely transparent. There isno need for telephony communications equipment at destination 60 toinput any special access or identifying information because thecommunication has already been initiated with destination 60 by source10. That is, the identification information for the source anddestination has already been established. Communication initiated basedon the identification information will continue because, oncecommunications are initiated, the telephony communications systemcreates a virtual circuit between the telephony communications equipmentat the destination and the corresponding Internet server which ismaintained until the communication is terminated (e.g., dial tone upon“hang up”). Furthermore, the Internet servers corresponding to thesource and destination have been determined. For that reason,destination 60 perceives communication performed using the system andmethod of the present invention as ordinary communication.

The vantage point of destination 60 is therefore similar to the vantagepoint of a person receiving telephone calls from sources having accountswith different telephone carriers—although the pathways over which eachtelephone call likely differ, the difference is transparent to therecipient.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an integratedtelephony system of the present invention. The illustrated embodiment ofthe present invention is intended to comprise the illustrated integratedtelephony system, which comprises several different elements connectedtogether, it may also comprise a subset of the illustrated systems.Alternatively, it may comprise another system which in turn includesother systems and network elements beyond those shown together with allor a subset of those elements shown.

In the illustrated integrated telephony system, many types oftelecommunications and/or information technology elements are connectedto a LAN-based system, i.e., a LAN-based exchange 120 for facilitatingthe exchanging of telephony and/or non-telephony traffic among thevarious elements connected thereto.

LAN-based exchange 120 may serve to emulate a traditional telephonycommunications system, such as a centrex, a PBX, a key system, oranother type of telephony communications system. Since it is LAN-based,it can also be implemented so that it concurrently serves as atraditional LAN, offering networking capabilities for non-telephonytraffic (e.g., Internet email, wordprocessing documents) as well as fortelephony traffic (e.g., faxes, two-way real time voice communication,and more specifically, communications between origination/destinationtelephony communications equipment (e.g., analog/digital dial-outtelephone number addressed telephone sets and standard dial-outtelephone number addressed fax machines).

Accordingly, FIG. 2A shows LAN-based exchange 120 coupled to telephonycommunications equipment (comprising, e.g., standard telephone set(s),fax machines, and dial-up PSTN-interfacing modems) 112, telephonycommunications systems (traditional and LAN-emulated) 114, a generalpurpose computer (e.g., a PC or workstation) 116, and the Internet 118.

Telephony communications equipment 112 is connected to LAN-basedexchange 120 via transmission link set L1 (a set comprising one morelinks). Telephony communications system 114 is connected to LAN-basedexchange 120 via transmission link set L2. General purpose computer 116is connected to LAN-based exchange 120 via transmission link set L3.Internet 118 is connected to LAN-based exchange 120 via transmissionlink set L4. In the illustrated system, link sets L1, L2, L3, and L4 areall bidirectional. Link sets L1 and L2 each carry mainly just telephonytraffic, while link sets L3 and L4 each carry both telephony traffic andnon-telephony traffic.

General purpose computer 116 may be equipped with appropriate multimediaand other interfacing equipment to facilitate telephony applications(over its link set connection L3 to LAN-based exchange 120) such assending and receiving Internet faxes and other types of virtual faxes,real-time duplex voice and/or video communications (e.g., emulating avideo phone or a voice telephone), and virtual or emulated modemcommunications. In addition, general purpose computer 116 may further beconnected to standard telephony communications equipment, such as ananalog phone set or a dial-out type fax machine, and may be providedwith an interface for receiving the signals from such devices,converting such signals to the appropriate format (e.g., analog todigital conversion) and forwarding them to LAN-based exchange 120 vialink set L3.

FIG. 2B shows LAN-based exchange 120 implemented as a client/serverarchitecture, with one or a number of hosts serving as Internettelephony servers (ITSs) 122 and the rest of the networked hosts beingInternet telephony (ITCs) clients 124-1, 124-2, . . . , 124-N.

Separate local ITSs (LITSs) and/or public ITSs (PITSs) may be providedat remote locations, the distance therebetwen possibly being consideredinter-lata, and thus requiring payment of long-distance rates. Insetting up such a multiple PITS and/or LITS network, according to oneembodiment, the ITSs register with each other (i.e., notify each other)their respective service areas (area codes, NXX, LITSs, . . . ), and theITCs each register with their respective ITSs that serve them. Standardtelephone connections (phone, fax) will be registered with the ITS (LITSor PITS) that is serving each such standard telephone connection.Registering the telephony destination address may be done by, e.g.,using a web browser interface, dialing directly into the ITS to registerpertinent information, or interfacing with a manual operator.

If no local ITS is available for a long distance call, i.e., there is noserving ITS close enough to the telephony destination address tocompletely avoid long distance charges, then the call should be routedto the next cheapest in terms of long distance costs ITS (PITS or LITS).

FIG. 2C illustrates a high-level flow chart of the general operation ofthe telephony clients 124-N shown in FIG. 2B, in accordance with aparticular exemplary embodiment. As indicated in step S10, a telephonyclient 124-N registers its IP address with its associated telephonyserver. This may be done, e.g., during bootup time, if telephony client124-N is a software implementation. In addition, in step S10, thetelephony client 124-N will be configured in accordance with theIP-compliant addressing scheme of its associated telephony server 122.

In step S12, telephony client 124-N supplies a dial tone to a handsetspeaker (not shown) or a multimedia speaker (not shown) (for hands freeoperation) to emulate the protocol of a telephony communicationsequipment (via a dial tone generation device which may be provided as aperipheral to the computer running the client, or may be generated byappropriately controlling an audio output port of the computer).Telephony client 124-N will then wait until the user inputs thedestination phone number (via an appropriate input device (not shown),e.g., a handset with a telephone-type key pad, a standard computerkeyboard, or through a microphone input and an appropriate linkedsoftware-implemented speech recognition interface).

In step S14, the destination phone number is received and sent toInternet telephony server 122. In step S16, Internet telephony server122 will then choose the connected link through which it should routethe phone call, assign an Internet protocol packet destination addresscorresponding to the telephony destination phone number, and route itspackets accordingly.

The above-described variations of an Internet telephony server (ITS) canbe implemented locally in a business or agency much like a PBX, and/orone can be implemented publicly and shared by independent businesses andindividuals and used for routing to other public or local ITSs andprovide an interface to existing telephony communications systems.

Additional housekeeping information may be embedded into the protocolused to transmit call information (housekeeping as well as payload).Such additional housekeeping information may include an identifierindicating the type of call being made (some example call typecategories are: voice, fax, video, videoconference, virtual modem (VM),bidirectional transmission (BDX), directional transmission (DX)). Thisinformation may be used by an ITS, by simply redirecting certain typesof calls, depending upon its type. Certain call types (e.g., faxes) arewell-suited for handling by other systems. For example, incoming faxescould be intercepted at the ITS (rather than sent to the Internettelephony client (ITC)) and sent to a fax server or to an email serverfor emailing to the intended recipient.

A simple flow of such a subsystem (provided as part of an ITS, an ITC,or even provided as a separate system or as a subsystem in otherapplications) may be as follows:

-   -   (1) Determine the type of call (fax, voice, data, video, . . .        ).    -   (2) Determine routing and connect to the appropriate application        (server).    -   (3) Perform the necessary protocol and/or data type (e.g.,        digital verses analog) conversions.

An ITS may handle voice and fax calls in the following manners,respectively.

If a voice call is received (a call may be switched to the ITS via AINor another mechanism), the ITS determines that the call is a voice call.If the telephony destination number is served by a client (ITC) of theITS, the ITS will attempt to talk to the ITC. If the ITC is notresponding, the ITS may arrange for the sending of a message to theintended recipient of the voice call.

If the ITC responds, it announces (audibly, visually, and/or throughother means) the receipt of a new call, and then awaits a response fromthe receiving user. If no such response is received, the ITC can actaccordingly (e.g., take a voice mail message or receive a text message).

If the receiving user answers the call, appropriate conversions (at theITC or the ITS, depending upon the type of receiving equipment and itsconnection to the ITS) will be implemented to convert the IP-carriedvoice data to a form suitable for the voice interface at the receivingend, and vice versa. The ITS will wait for all parties but one todisconnect, before terminating the call.

If a fax is received, and the ITS is connected to either a standard faxmachine or to a fax server (either directly or via an ITC), the faxinformation will need to be converted accordingly to be transmitted overan Internet telephony LAN, and then converted back to the appropriateformat for receipt by the fax machine or fax server.

If the ITS is serving as a fax server, it may simply take the fax andemail it to the destination user's email address, and, if the ITS hasbeen configured to do so, it may then notify the party sending the faxand/or the fax recipient that the fax has been forwarded (emailed).

Some of the benefits of an ITS/ITC architecture include, but are notlimited to: the elimination of separate wiring for phone and data, byproviding for the running of all telephony applications over data wiring(company intranet(s), LANs, and WANs); the use of a client/serverparidyme which facilitates scalability of telephony services (e.g., newLITSs may be easily added); the reduction in complexity and expense ofswitched networks (public, private and hybrid); the replacement ofswitching with a system which allows hundreds or thousands of cablesrequired for switched systems to be reduced to one or several; the moreefficient use of local phone lines; the reduction of all separate linesand/or facility groups (e.g., trunk groups, multiline hunt groups, etc.)to one (or two for redundancy) high bandwidth connection; a reduction intelephony personnel, since all telephony activity will be done over adata network and regular computers (no special personnel or trainingwill be needed for special exchange equipment, wiring, protocols, etc.);voice and data can be more tightly coupled since they are both carriedover the same network and applications on the same computers; an ITS candetermine the type of each incoming call (e.g., fax, voice, . . . ),thus facilitating the provision of new and enhanced features (e.g., onenumber can be used for a person's voice and fax; voice calls aredelivered, and fax calls are intercepted and automatically sent (e.g.,emailed) to the receiver); and a reduction in the cost of long distancecalling by routing over the Internet.

While the invention has been described by way of example embodiments, itis understood that the words which have been used herein are words ofdescription, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made,within the purview of the appended claims, without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention in its broader aspects. Although theinvention has been described herein with reference to particular means,materials, and embodiments, it is understood that the invention is notlimited to the particulars disclosed.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. Apparatus comprising: a phone switch connected to aphone device via a local area network using IP addressing; the phoneswitch including a destination number determination mechanism todetermine a given destination number of a given call placed by the phonedevice; the phone switch further including an IP versus public phonenetwork discriminator to determine whether the given destination numberresides on an IP addressed network or resides on a public phone network;an analog voice converter to convert payload of the given call to ananalog signal suitable for the public phone network when thediscriminator determines that the given destination number resides onthe public phone network; a point-to-point IP communication mechanism toestablish the given call point-to-point over an Internet connectionwithout going through a public phone network when the discriminatordetermines that the given destination number resides on an IP addressednetwork.